Emergency Fund Calculator
How big should your safety net be, how many months of runway do you have right now, and how long to fully fund it? Enter your essential expenses and a target, and see the answer — with a month-by-month build plan you can export.
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How to size — and build — an emergency fund
An emergency fund is the cash you keep set aside for the unexpected — a job loss, a medical bill, a car or home repair — so a bad month doesn't turn into credit-card debt. Its size starts with one number: your essential monthly expenses, meaning only the bills you'd still owe with no income coming in. Multiply that by the months of coverage you want, and you have your target.
The calculator puts two numbers front and center:
- Runway now: how many months you could cover today with what you've already saved and no income at all.
- Time to fully fund: how long — and how much per month — it takes to close the gap, compounding at your savings APY.
How many months is right? Three months suits a stable household with two dependable incomes. Six is the typical case. Nine to twelve makes sense if you're self-employed, paid on commission, leaning on a single income, or supporting dependents — anyone whose cash flow is lumpy or hard to replace quickly. The tool compares all four targets side by side so you can see what each one costs in time.
One honest caveat it builds in: an emergency fund is insurance, not an investment. Keep it somewhere safe and liquid — a high-yield savings account is fine — because the point is to have it the day you need it. The flip side matters too: cash piled up well beyond your target carries an opportunity cost, since money past the goal generally does more invested for the long term.
Common questions
- How many months of expenses should I save?
- Three to six months is the usual range. Lean toward three with stable dual income and few obligations; six for the typical single-income or mixed household; and nine to twelve if your income is variable, self-employed, or supporting dependents. The calculator shows all four targets so you can pick deliberately.
- What should I count as essential expenses?
- Only what you'd still have to pay with no paycheck: housing, utilities, food, insurance, transportation, and minimum debt payments. Leave out the discretionary spending you could pause. Use the optional itemized list to total it up line by line.
- Should I invest my emergency fund for a higher return?
- Generally no. This money's job is to be available, in full, the instant you need it — so liquidity and safety beat yield. A high-yield savings account captures a little interest without that risk. Once you're fully funded, then extra dollars beyond the target are the ones to consider investing for the long term.
- Is anything saved or sent anywhere?
- No. Every number runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, stored, or shared — and you can export the full build schedule to CSV with one click.
Finding the money to save is the hard part
Taly auto-splits every paycheck across your budget — so the room to fund your safety net shows up on its own, instead of you hunting for it. Your paycheck does the math.